anyone with small kids?

[shiumai]

seat pad under child seat to protect the cushion/fabric: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Diono-Ultra-Mat-Seat-Grey/dp/B005NFRV0Y"]Amazon.com: Diono Ultra Mat Car Seat Mat, Grey: Baby[/ame]

kick mat that secures to the back of the front seat to protect it from shoe scuffing: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Britax-Kick-Mats-2-Pack-Black/dp/B006ZVV0P2/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1372207725&sr=1-1&keywords=britax+kick+mat+2-pack"]Amazon.com: Britax Kick Mats (2-Pack, Black): Baby[/ame]

[humfrz]

Well, I have found that my 4 & 6 year old granddaughters fit OK .... but not too often and not for a long time.

Just move the passenger seat forward, they will figure out how to get in, then make sure they buckle themselves up ....

humfrz

[Demandred7]

I am 5'6" and my wife is 4'11" and our kids are logically not giants either. I have one 5 year old and one 4 year old. My eldest sits behind my wife and my youngest behind me. My eldest can buckle and un-buckle herself. The kids pretty much straddle the front seats. Once they are 40 lbs, it will likely work out better since they can be in booster seats. I find it easiest to put one foot in the car and do whatever buckling and un-buckling I need to do. The worst occurs when they fall asleep and we have to lift them out. I am pleasantly surprised every time the kids request Daddy's car, but, realistically a long drive is not in the cards. The longest drive we have taken in my car is about an hour, otherwise, we take the Sienna.

[autobrz]

my 2.75 year old daughter fits just fine behind the passenger with my wife in the front. Once she is tall enough, she will be moving to a backless booster which will allow her to sit back even more leaving more room for the front passenger.

[thill]

We have a minivan and the BRZ. Guess which car my 5 and 7 year old want to ride in all the time

I am 5'11" and, yes it is really tight behind me, but the kids fit. Now when they are teenagers it will be a different story...

[Kimsey47]

Have a backless booster for my 5 year old. Plenty of room for her and my wife in the front.

Have this one: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004I5BU48/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]Amazon.com: Clek Olli 2011 Backless Booster Car Seat, Jet: Baby[/ame]

AWESOME seat as it can be easily snapped in and removed. Plus blends in nicely with interior.

[thill]

Originally Posted by Kimsey47

Have a backless booster for my 5 year old. Plenty of room for her and my wife in the front.

Yes, I use two of the backless boosters as well and they work great.

[CAMBAM_6]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Well, I have found that my 4 & 6 year old granddaughters fit OK .... but not too often and not for a long time.

Just move the passenger seat forward, they will figure out how to get in, then make sure they buckle themselves up ....

humfrz

Look at there legs, technically thats not an ok fit..lol

[BadMoon]

Originally Posted by CAMBAM_6

Look at there legs, technically thats not an ok fit..lol

Yeah I don't know that I would put my kids in like that. It looks like I'm going to have to find new car seats when the kids get bigger. I've already started looking into it. Luckily I have a couple years. By then who knows. I may have a new car.

[dd86]

I'm 5'6 and my wife is 5'4. We fit our daughters (5 and 3 yr old but on the smaller side in terms of height/weight) in the back with my eldest behind the passenger seat in a graco turbo booster seat and my youngest behind the driver seat in a diono radian R100. They both climb in on their own and my eldest can easily buckle herself in (which she couldn't do in our old car - acura tsx), though I still need to help thread the seat belt properly from time to time. As for my youngest, I usually buckle her in by reaching back with one foot on the door sill. If I'm really in a rush to drop them off, I'll hurry them in and buckle my little one by turning around in the driver seat, which is doable given the rear seat proximity, but does require a good bit of back-straining contortion.

Given our relatively short stature, there is plenty of room for them to dangle their legs. The funny thing is, the clearance issue for small kids whose legs don't reach the floor really hinges on their foot size and the drop angle of their legs off the edge of their car seat. The lower the seat and more upright the drop angle, the more clearance they'll have. Plus, if they kick off their shoes, all the better, at least for the warmer months. Once they reach the proper height when their feet can rest on the floor, then leg room shouldn't be an issue until they hit their teens, though they might start feeling space-cramped otherwise.

Here are the seat-back protectors/organizers that we use. It has decent storage for things like books and small toys, but doesn't hang completely snug against the seat. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-23205-Backseat-Organizer-Black/dp/B003XMWFBE/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1372259589&sr=1-2&keywords=munchkin+seat+protector"]Munchkin Backseat Organizer[/ame]. As a side note, our kids seem to fall asleep more easily in the FR-S than in the Sienna for some reason.

[Richard Cranium]

FWIW, me and my roommate (both 6'1"ish) and our ladies (5'5" and 5'4") have all fit in and gone to the movies a couple times. Someone can sit surprisingly comfortable and far forward in the passenger seat. My knees are about 1" from the dash and I'm sitting about 5-10 degrees shy of vertical, certainly not ideal....but it can be done.

[brzr]

just picked up the new car this evening, and had both kids in the back......whichever kid sits behind me is fine......doesn't have any problems with fitting the feet, but the one that was behind my husband wasn't too happy, and had to take his shoes off to fit his feet in nicely
so with me it works good, and with husband, we'll just have to put my younger behind him without his shoes (husband is 5'8'')

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by CAMBAM_6

Look at there legs, technically thats not an ok fit..lol

Hey.....they are kids....they bend easy ....

Besides, when I was a kid, I had to ride in the back of the farm truck, with whatever was back there ....

DANG, how did we ever survive .... no seat belts, childs seat, air bags ...... ,......sorry.

humfrz

[BadMoon]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Hey.....they are kids....they bend easy ....

Besides, when I was a kid, I had to ride in the back of the farm truck, with whatever was back there ....

DANG, how did we ever survive .... no seat belts, childs seat, air bags ...... ,......sorry.

humfrz

When I was still inside my mother in 1979 she kept on smoking. Just because our parents did something back in the day doesn't make it right. I survived sure. But knowing what we know today I wonder if she would have risked that?